Verdict Expected Today in D.A.'s DUI Damages Trial

Update: corrects attribution made by editor, and prosecutor's decline to comment.

A verdict is expected today in the civil court case that seeks damages from a Long Beach DUI crash caused by Deputy District Attorney Marilyn Seymour, a Long Beach resident.

Chelsea Caughran and Jocelyn Hernandez of Long Beach are expected to hear today a jury's verdict in their personal injury lawsuit at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles.  Seymour's attorney, Albert DiRocco, and plaintiffs’ Attorneys Michael Alder and Diane Corwin, presented their closing arguments Monday to settle the amount of money Seymour will owe  for injuries and damages alleged by Caughran and Hernandez.

Seymour, who is assigned to the Compton branch criminal division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, declined to comment to Patch outside court this week.

She has testified that she had several shots of tequila and three glasses of wine at The Beach Club Sports Bar & Grill near 7th and Pacific Coast Highway, on the night of the crash. She was driving home, five minutes away, when her car rear-ended what court documents describe as a Nissan Sentra that Caughran was driving on P.C.H. at the intersection with Havana. The intersection is a half-mile northwest of the bar.

The Beach Club co-owner Ben Goldberg told Patch that he was unaware that there was any injury crash caused by a patron who had consumed what proved to be more than three times the legal DUI limit.

Seymour has testified that she takes responsibility for the crash, and feels deeply embarrassed by it. But she maintains that she was driving the posted speed limit, not the 70 m.p.h. alleged by plaintiffs. And the sides dispute the financial costs owed the victims.

Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the D.A.'s office, said Tuesday that the civil case is not related to the office and that Seymour was testifying while on vacation. It has thus not issued any press releases about the lawsuit, which originally named L.A. County as a defendant. 

 The complaint was filed Aug. 27, 2010 after Seymour rear-ended a car while driving wit a blood/alcohol level of .26 on PCH in Long Beach, court records state. The legal limit is .08. The suit seeks damages for past and future medical costs and contingency costs, including future loss of earning capacity and other expenses.   

During the trial, the defense called a medical doctor to the stand to testify on the medical records and MRI scans of Caughran and Hernandez. DiRocco later pointed out that it would be “medically impossible to show that the MRI showing the disc was as a result of the car accident.” DiRocco also discussed how there wasn’t exhaustive treatment or interruption of daily activities as a result of the accident.

Alder then discussed the pain that the Plaintiffs’ endured after the accident, citing multiple physical therapies for the course of the year for Caughran and Hernandez and immediate pain in the back and other areas for Caughran two weeks after the accident.

Plaintiffs’ Attorney Alder made his closing arguments by reinforcing the idea of how the defense should “accept their responsibility.” Alder highlighted the total amount of money needed to cover costs in damages and injuries for both Caughran and Hernandez and emphasized how the plaintiffs have incurred “bad injuries” as a result of the accident. The estimates in the millions of dollars. (For Caughran: past medical expenses, $82,791.78; future medical costs, $1,169,822; contingency costs, $139,670; as well as the future loss of earning capacity costs. And for Jocelyn: past medical expenses, $8,800; future medical care costs, $825,844; contingency costs, $137,346, as well as the future loss of earning capacity costs).

“There’s got to be a lot of money because it’s a bad injury and it’s over a long period of time,” said Alder.

Defense Attorney DiRocco issued his closing statement beginning with a quote from John Adams:

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” DiRocco then asked the jury to decide for themselves the verdict while closely examining the facts. From there, DiRocco asked the jury to analyze what the “bad injuries” in the case were and summarized from his previous findings that the “desiccated disc injury on the MRI scan could be caused by various things.”

In closing, DiRocco stated, “My client may be 4-foot-10, but she makes a hell of a target.”

The total amount of money allocated to Caughran and Hernandez likely will be decided by the jury today.